Resurrecting Charlie's Girl by Debra Kayn Read Free Book Online Page A

himself and
the street. She hurried with him, getting closer to Tom's car. Once he stopped
on the side closest to the house, her hands roamed over his body to check for
wounds.
    "Are
you shot?" Charlise coughed, and doubled over.
    "No,
I did the shooting." He gathered her in one arm, keeping his weapon raised
with the other. "We need to get out of here."
    Tom
led Charlise around the car and she climbed into the passenger seat. She wiped
her mouth and her hand came away with a swipe of blood. She must've bitten her
lip during the scuffle.
    Tom
started the car. She gripped the edge of her seat as Tom squealed the tires
getting out of the neighborhood. She kept her eyes straight ahead, afraid to
look around and see a black sedan behind them.
    "You
okay?" Tom zigzagged the car up one side street and down another to cover
their tracks.
    "Yeah,
I think so. God, I thought you were shot." She scooted back in the seat
and put her seat belt on. "I heard the shot, and it all happened so
fast…"
    "I
know. I saw an opening when you started fighting to get away and took it. I
only winged Jared. The most the son-of-a-bitch will have is a scratch, but it
was enough for him to drop you." Tom cut in front of another car on the
entrance to the highway.
    "W-where
are w-we going?" The chills hit her hard and fast.
    "Right
now, we're going to drive until I know we're not being followed. When it's
safe, I'll call into G.P.I. and set a new plan." Tom turned on the heater.
    The
blast from the fan blew hot on Charlise's feet. The sensation shocked her and
she gazed down at the floorboard of the car in horro. Then she buried her face
in her hands, groaning.
    "What's
wrong?" Tom rubbed her leg.
    A
harsh bark of laughter came from deep inside her, damning her to hell. She
prided herself at how prepared she'd kept herself the last few months, and here
she sat with no shoes on her feet.
    Whether
hiding or on the run, she always made sure she wore sneakers. She even wore
them to bed in case she had to make a quick getaway in the middle of the night.
    She
might have to wear second hand clothes, but her shoes—she'd bought the pair
she'd worn earlier back when name-brand clothes meant something in her life.
She picked them out on a shopping trip with Julie. Now even her shoes remained
lost to her forever.

Chapter Seven
    Tom
pressed down on the accelerator and the car shot forward. Charlise's outburst
concerned him. Usually calm and collected to an eery degree, considering the
circumstances. Her hysterical laughter followed by tears worried him enough, he
feared Jared pushed her to her limit this time.
    "I'm
pulling over at the next exit. Stay with me, Charlise," he said.
    Her
body tilted in the seat, and he knew any moment she might slip into a world
where there wasn't any danger. Her changing moods were playing havoc with her
mind. A body could only take so many traumas and he worried that she'd
witnessed more than her body could tolerate.
    He
whipped the car around the corner, tires screeching, and pulled to the curb on
a one-way street lined with mature oak trees. With one hand on Charlise's leg,
he checked the rear view mirror and the side mirror for suspicious vehicles
before directing all his attention to Charlise.
    "Come
here, sweetheart." He undid her seat belt, pulled her sobbing body over
the gearshift, and onto his lap. His chin rested on the top of her head. What
he wouldn't give to kill the bastard who scarred her so deeply, and make him
pay for the damage he caused her.
    Her
best friend murdered, her Dad gone. Hell, she'd been on the run so long, he
doubted if she ever slept a full night. He needed to put an end to it for her
sake. She didn't know it, but he didn't plan to leave her side, now or in the
future.
    "Sh…."
He stroked her arm and kissed the top of her head. "Can you take a deep
breath for me?"
    Her
body jumped. Every little noise set her off, even his voice. If he didn't get
her calmed down, she might hyperventilate or worse, slip